Week 53 - York

As soon as you hit the A64 you know that you’ve only got one destination in mind…York. Driving into York cemented the fact we were home, in fact it felt like we’d never left all those months ago.  Our first stop was our new home for 6 months, Jim (Kyle’s dad) and Mandy’s, so it was more brews and catch ups before we finally began to unpack all of our belongings, getting used to living out of a wardrobe instead of a backpack will take some time, now we’ve got to work out where we’ve put everything.

In a week filled with catch ups we’ve spent time with little Paige, whose taken to calling Kyle, Uncle Pile, which is just too funny to correct. I’ve enjoyed the first of many meals with my Republic girls, Amber, Jade, Liz and Vick, who have been useless this last year, resulting in this being the first time they’d seen each other since I left too. My favourite thing about these girls is that catching up is always easy, they never change and we’ve actually grown together…so yes, Amber don’t worry we all still appreciate your rudeness with waitstaff, and credit where it’s due you’ve gotten a lot better this last year. I’ve visited the Nespresso gang and avoided putting on a headset to help queue bust, and instead left wth a bag full of chocolate thanks to my good friend, Cindy.

We’ve enjoyed a few drinks in the local, and a few too many at Charley and Alana’s engagement do (congrats again guys). A great evening allowed us to catch up with almost everyone and enjoy an old school disco, a proper year 8 style Christmas party, that had almost everyone busting out the macarena. A trip into town should of been cancelled at the walls, I forgot just how crowded Yorks bars could be, and now we find ourselves at that awkward age of being surrounded by people in the 16-21 bracket or the parents who can now go out again as their kids are our age and avoiding town for looking too old…safe to say my nightclub days are far behind me.

In an attempt to keep up our adventures we’ve walked Jasper through the woods and across the Knavesmire, and played tourist in York city centre. An early rise gave us the Shambles to ourselves. Like a scene from Diagon Alley (Harry Potter), the Shambles is an old cobbled street lined with shops and restaurants in old buildings that over hang with timber frames, dating back to the 14th century and one of my favourite places in this historic city. From here we ventured to York Minster, through the museum gardens and onto the city walls. A  walk I have never done in the 11 years I have lived in York, the city walls have more miles than any other city in England. Having surrounded York since the Roman times, the walls surround the city centre and offer great views of many historic buildings and the river, plus the best thing about this walk is, it’s free and open daily. Though we would recommend venturing out early to beat the crowds.

It’s been a busy week all round, on top of walks and catch ups we’ve also found time for job interviews. This means getting used to working to somebody else timings, dressing smart and for me using public transport (a massive drain on a busy York morning). But it’s also a good thing as it means we’ll hopefully get a job sooner, rather than later so we can start saving for our future and more UK weekend explorings. 

And it’s here we’ll leave you for now. I’m considering an update in a few months time, we’ll hopefully be working and enjoying the sites in Yorkshire by then. But for now we’re still adjusting to being home, so if you see us and we’re looking a little lost it’s only because were taking things in and trying not to be too overwhelmed by being home. Thank you to all for supporting us on our travels for the last year, and to family for helping us survive for now. Again it’s been a fantastic year, and we’re both looking forward to seeing what happens next.

Love Carrie xxx